In the lab, the work has begun to get repetitive; Kaitlyn and I have been finding the gonads of pyrosome zooids and taking photographs of the largest section in each zooid in an attempt to understand their reproduction. We will measure the area of the gonads later on, but many data are needed to get an accurate result. I have become quite good at identifying gonads from the many hours spent on the microscope.

A third larval trap was deployed this week near the OIMB dock, so it will tell us about the larval distribution near the shore. It will be interesting to compare the larvae we find in 14 ft of water to the larvae found in 200 ft water. Hopefully, we will find a distinguishable pattern that will explain the larval settlement patterns.

Also, I learned how to use a scanning electron microscope that shoots an electron beam at 10,000 volts at a specimen of just a few microns wide, producing high resolution images. It is quite incredible. We will do scanning electron microscopy on mussel larvae from the deep-sea off the Gulf of Mexico along with any other specimens that capture our interest.

The interns all took a road trip to Eugene involving car games, snacks, music, and sleep, of course. We went to the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History and visited some science labs of the University of Oregon. It was interesting to see what projects the grad students were working on, particularly the project of testing chemicals on roundworms to determine if any would yield a longer life span.

​One of my favorite adventures of the week was going to Hall Lake. The lake is surrounded by a wooded area and sand dunes that lead to the lake on a steep incline. It was a beautiful day, and the water was wet and refreshing, especially after a climb to the top of the dune. Having not swam since I arrived in Oregon, I remained in the water for most of the trip. I will definitely be returning.

Other fun included the regular festivities of yoga, foosball, walks on the beach, bonfires, movies, and more.

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Week 1

Hello! My name is Nicole Wegrzyniak. I am originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, and I moved to Santa Barbara, California in 2015, where I attended Santa Barbara City College. In the fall of 2017, I will be attending the University of California, Davis, where I will be studying animal biology. I have desired to be a veterinarian ever since I was a child, and I continue to reach for this; I wish to open my own animal clinic someday, where I will happily help heal animals. While pursuing this dream, I have participated in many sports, clubs, volunteering opportunities, and whatever else I can in order to experience more and enhance my life. I enjoy gaining cultural intelligence through much travel, and I also fancy hiking, doing yoga, making crafts, and grocery shopping.

I applied to the REU program because it seemed like an intriguing and helpful program that would teach me professional skills and provide research experience while having fun with a topic I am greatly interested in: marine biology. I am excited to be working with Craig Young as my mentor and Kaitlyn Beard, the other undergraduate student Craig is mentoring. I wish to get a lot out of this experience, and already, within the first week this has been the case. I have learned how to collect larvae with aplankton net and how to identify some of the local invertebrate larvae. Furthermore, I have become familiar with how to rear larvae under optimal conditions in vitro as well as other helpful lab techniques. We are discussing possible projects that involve reproductive biology, larval development, and the ecology of deep-sea invertebrates. Specifically, we have discussed investigating the larvae at different depths of the ocean, gonadhistology of deep-sea brittle stars or amphipods, and investigating the effect of larval predation on population distributions. I am excited to further plan these projects,to design the experiments and learn how to analyze data.